Federal MP Maxime Bernier drops off an official application for his People's Party of Canada at Elections Canada offices in Gatineau, Que., on Oct. 10, 2018, in preparation for the 2019 elections. File photo by Alex Tétreault

According to a filing with Elections Canada, the third-party group is run by Frank Smeenk, the chief executive of a Toronto-based mining exploration company.

The group filed interim financial returns with Elections Canada that show it spent $59,890 on billboards in "select cities in Canada" and received $60,000 from Bassett & Walker International Inc., a company that specializes in the international trade of protein products.

Earlier this week, Smeenk declined to comment on the billboard beyond what appeared in the Elections Canada filing. The Canadian Press attempted to reach Smeenk again on Friday, but he did not respond.

Similarly, messages left at Bassett & Walker were not returned.

The People's Party of Canada also did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday, but it said in a statement to other media it is not associated with the group that has put up the billboards and that they had not been in contact with the third party.

Bernier has advocated lower immigration to somewhere between 100,000 to 150,000 people per year, much lower than the current target of 330,800 for 2019 set by the federal government. He's also said he would impose a values test on people trying to immigrate to Canada.

Local politicians in Halifax weighed in as images of the billboards spread Friday.

Why is it legal for a "third party" to pay for the promotion of a registered political party? On the other hand, charitable organisations are muzzled by Elections Canada? Where is this rational? I find it difficult to keep faith in our system. Thank heaven we have National Observer to keep the record straight.